How to Select Multiple Pages in InDesign UI or Script?

Forum|Forum|1 year ago
October 20, 2024
5 replies
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What is your way of selecting multiple pages in UI - consecutive or not - so this selection info can be read from the script?

Or how do you select pages from script so selection can be read back.

This topic has been closed for replies.

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Peter Kahrel

Adobe Expert

> But, in case of simulating selection of the pages - you need to execute invoke with the correct ID to select Pages Tool first.

No need to invoke(). Not with JavaScript, anyway.

Robert at ID-TaskerAuthor

Brainiac

> But, in case of simulating selection of the pages - you need to execute invoke with the correct ID to select Pages Tool first.

No need to invoke(). Not with JavaScript, anyway.

By @Peter Kahrel

If you just select pages - you won't be able to read selection back.

Invoke is to make the selection stay and be readable back - for example, you could select some pages, then tell user to select more or unselect some.

Without invoke - you won't be able to read modified selection.

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Peter Kahrel

Adobe Expert

I have nothing selected in the document, and in the Tools panel, the selection tool is active.

Then I do

d = app.documents[0];
app.select(d.pages[2]);
app.select(d.pages[4],SelectionOptions.ADD_TO);

And when I then do app.selection, an array with the two selected pages is returned. No invoke() needed.

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Peter Kahrel

Adobe Expert

With nothing selected in the document, and some pages selected in the Pages panel,, app.selection returns undefined. So pages selected in the Pages panel are not exposed to scripting.

Only when you use the Page tool from the Tools panel to select some pages does app.selection return the selected pages.

Sure, you can use app.select() to create an array of selected pages. And then app.selection returns that array.

Robert at ID-TaskerAuthor

Brainiac

@Peter Kahrel

And that's the correct answer 🙂

But, in case of simulating selection of the pages - you need to execute invoke with the correct ID to select Pages Tool first.

I never said it doesn't require one small extra step 😉 but is way easier than creating some temporary TFs - and is very easy to do by the user in the UI.

FRIdNGE

Inspiring

You mean: select pages in the Pages panel?

(^/) The Jedi

Robert at ID-TaskerAuthor

Brainiac

You mean: select pages in the Pages panel?

(^/) The Jedi

By @FRIdNGE

Both - read selection made manually in the UI and simulate this selection.

rob day

Adobe Expert

Hi @Robert at ID-Tasker , The best you can do is set or get the active page or spread—activePage only returns a single page, not an array of pages:

//make page 2 active
app.activeWindow.activePage=app.activeDocument.pages[1];
//get active page
$.writeln(app.activeWindow.activePage.name)

Also app.activeWindow.activePage can still be unreliable—depends on the zoom level—the frontmost page doesn't always correspond to the selected page in the Pages panel,